- idea of oneness of soul
- but became stereotype of ideal wife & greed of property
- suicide/murder not rooted in spiritualism
- not practiced widely
- mainly done by upper caste in bengal
- 1800+: lower caste also started practicing sati for caste mobility
- Missionaries since 1813 opposed sati, but failed
- scripture based debates b/w Brahmo Samaj 1828 & Dharma Sabha (Radha Kanta Dev)
- Bentinck 2835: pre-condition: Indian way (Orientalism)
- will follow whoever wins debate
- Roy won
- Sati Abolition Act 1829 came into being